Dapp v. Dapp

Divorce: Marital Property: Railroad Retirement Act

CSA No. 0500, September Term 2011, Reported. Opinion by Pierson, J. Filed May 1, 2013. 14 pages. Appeal from Baltimore County Circuit Court. Reversed in part.

The trial court erred in ordering a man to pay his ex-wife certain amounts based upon his past and future receipt of retirement benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, 45 U.S.C. § 231 et seq., in accordance with the terms of the parties’ Marital Separation and Property Settlement Agreement. The husband argued that the division of so-called Tier I benefits pursuant to a marital settlement agreement was prohibited by the Railroad Retirement Act, and that, therefore, the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution precluded the trial court from enforcing that portion of the agreement.

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